When Seungsik opened his eyes the next morning it was 6:37 a.m. and he truly didn’t want to remove his body from the warm covers into his comfortable, but colder than under his blankets, room. Or actually, maybe it was just because he didn’t want to get dressed and go next door to see his neighbor’s son. For now, he would just continue his morning believe the first one.

His mom scolded him for not setting up an alarm but he trusted that he would wake up anyways subconsciously from nerves. Confidentially in his mind he secretly wished he could’ve overslept, but he regretted even thinking it because he really couldn’t let down his mom. He was doing this for her, not Seungwoo or even for Mrs. Han. Seungsik always did the most to help his mother out when he could as a hushed thank you for all the hard work she did as a single parent.

With an exhausted groan, Seungsik raised himself from his slightly worn and dense mattress to start the day. The birds were chirping and the sun was out yet Seungsik felt like slamming the windows closed and lowering the blinds.

Seungwoo was only really his next-door neighbor so Seungsik managed to convince himself that he really didn’t care what he thought. With that in mind, he threw on a pair of sweatpants that felt a bit too small (they were most likely Subin’s and his mom put them in his drawer while doing laundry by accident) and an oversized t-shirt that had an old oil stain Seungsik didn’t even bother to notice. Out of all things he would have to do for Seungwoo he wouldn’t dress nice just to nurse him all day. He walked out of his room without even taking a second looking in the mirror, not really giving a thought about the strands of hair sticking up on the back of his head.

Subin pretended not to notice Seungsik walking down the stairs as he watched his morning drama. “You’re lucky you’re young, you little . I’m suffering because of you.” Seungsik exaggerated as he slipped on a pair of slides on his feet even though he had socks on. Seungsik was a normal fashion terrorist as they called it.

Despite his complaints, Seungsik knew his mother asked him to watch over Seungwoo and not Subin because of his personality. Seungsik was usually naturally caring and kind, but for some reason he couldn’t find the desire to tend to Seungwoo all summer. He wondered if this was some kind of punishment from any higher being, if any even existed, for lazing around the past 18 years and never accomplishing any of his goals. Last night before falling asleep he silently promised to be a better and more hardworking person if it would get him out of this predicament. When he woke up and nothing had changed he decided maybe he really didn’t believe in God.

“Have fun, hyung.” Subin yawned as Seungsik opened the front door.

“Yeah, right. See you later.” And with that he stepped outside and closed the door, locking it behind him. Seungsik had never taken so long to walk from his front door to his neighbors, taking small strides across his front yard to the next. When he finally reached there he (very) reluctantly knocked on the hard wood door and waited for someone to answer. Checking his phone, it read 7:12 and he let out a sigh of relief. He was on time more or less. Nothing to worry about.

Seungsik was startled by the door suddenly opening, the several wicked windchimes dangling down causing an unpleasant ringing in his ears. He winced at the same sound that have terrorized his life and woken him up countless times for thirteen years.

He was greeted by a dressed-up Mrs. Han pulling the backs of her high heels to get them on her feet, most likely about to leave. “Hi Seungsik, nice to see you again.” She smiled even though she was concentrating more on getting her shoes on than looking at Seungsik’s face. He didn’t mind though. He knew how hard and time constrained work was for his mother so he can recognize how Mrs. Han must have felt.

He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck and straightening his hair, being overly formal and fake for no good reason. “Hey, good morning Miss. It’s been a while.”

She finally got her black heels on and was grabbing her keys and purse. Straightening her skirt, she eventually looked up to Seungsik’s eyes. “Yes, okay so Seungwoo is in the guest room, second door on the right in the hallway. He can’t really get upstairs to his room so he’s staying there for the time being.” Seungsik nodded in understanding. “He takes his medicine at 11 before lunch and then again at 6 before dinner. I get out of work at 7 and my husband even later, so you can leave when I get home.”

Seungsik tried his best not to sigh in discontent. He feared that he’d have to stay there for a long period of time, but tried to convince himself it would only be a few hours even though he clearly knew that Mrs. and Mr. Han worked until night.